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Blog 3 Columns

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Blog 3 Columns

Why It’s Bad for a Society to Do Away with Shame 0
- Culture
- February 23, 2016
In recent years, popular culture has encouraged us to be or do anything we want to in the name of freedom. In fact, it has become acceptable and courageous to defy traditionally-held views of ethics, family, marriage, religion, and political action. But has this rush to stretch our wings, embrace freedom, and ditch shame actually
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Why It’s Harmful to Reward Children for Everything 1
- Family
- February 23, 2016
Rewarding children for good behavior has become commonplace in the American family. But in a recent piece for The Atlantic, Psychologist Erica Reischer cautions that reward systems can be surprisingly harmful to children and their families. Using the example of the ubiquitous sticker chart, Reischer writes that the system of children earning their way to
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Hello, Norma Jean. Goodbye great books 0
- Education
- February 23, 2016
Students enrolling at a prominent Australian university this week will be able to choose an elective that is likely to leave all the competition for dead. A course designed to tie in with an art exhibition at neighbouring galleries offers La Trobe undergraduates credits for studying the famous blond bombshell of the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe.
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Do Millennials Take Employment for Granted?0
- Culture
- February 23, 2016
By now, you may have heard of Talia Jane, the young woman who posted an open letter to the CEO of Yelp/Eat24 on Medium a few days ago. The letter explained that despite her college education, she found herself a young, starving, twenty-something struggling to live on a Yelp/Eat24 salary of a little more than
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A Philosophical Examination of Porn 0
- Philosophy
- February 23, 2016
Some months ago, Intellectual Takeout blogged thus: “From a philosophical standpoint, the following seems to be the case: For those who believe pornography is intrinsically evil, the onus is on them to explain how its use does not accord with the proper telos, or goal, of human sexual activity. For those who believe pornography is a
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4 Reasons Why This Teacher Now Supports Homeschooling 0
- Education
- February 23, 2016
Acceptance and recognition of homeschooling has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Yet in spite of overwhelming support, this education practice is not without its skeptics. And oftentimes, traditional schoolteachers are the biggest skeptics. This is understandable, particularly as teachers have received large amounts of training in order to gain their position. The
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Why Political Debate Today is Incoherent 0
- Politics
- February 22, 2016
Among political philosophers, the most common critique of “liberalism” (not to be confused with modern “liberalism”) is not its concern for liberty, fairness, tolerance, and related values, but its public promotion of such values without recourse to any underlying, philosophical view of reality. We’re supposed to simply see the kind of open, secular, republican polity
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The Cult of Niceness 0
- Uncategorized
- February 22, 2016
More than twenty-five years ago, in The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom pointed out that college students in the United States had become very “nice.” Students in general did not want to offend anyone and there was a constant concern to protect one another’s feelings. Bloom meant this as a half-hearted, even backhanded
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New Study Suggests Manners Might Reduce Obesity 0
- Culture
- February 22, 2016
Across the political spectrum an overwhelming majority of adults believe that it’s important to teach children to be well-mannered. Yet in spite of this widespread agreement, the growing popularity of etiquette classes signal that few people actually know what good manners really entail. As it turns out, good manners may solve more than America’s rudeness
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